For those of us who are looking for opportunities to make the environment greener and ways to recycle, you may be surprised to learn that used spark plugs are more valuable than new ones. The Spark Guy takes discarded spark plugs and turns them into objects of art. This tandem piece turned up at a Bellaire Art Show this Spring where friends couldn't pass the opportunity to add to our growing fleet of tandem collectables. The Sparkplug Guy

Ride Review by Loran Wilson

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On July 19, 2009, Loran & Kelly Wilson journeyed to France with their trusty tandem (Gracie) in the Bike Pro Case as checked baggage. Learning from Hugh and Becky’s experience, we made sure that the case with bike weighed less than 70 pounds; to do that we got a Wheel Safe for the wheels, saddle/seat-post, and other sundry items. Thankfully, logistics on the entire trip were flawless until a 7 hour delay of our return flight from Paris to Houston. We flew to Geneva, and had a ‘large’ taxi arranged to take us to Annecy, France (45 km drive). Our tandem case barely fit in the taxi (minivan), along w/our luggage we were quite squashed, but we had a nice friendly French taxi driver who spoke little English.

Once in Annecy, we found our Hotel Splendid was right on the Stage 18 Time Trial course. We arrived 2 days before our bike tour was scheduled to start, so we got time to do a ride in the country toward Geneva, and up into the hills back to Annecy. This was one of our best rides, just riding at our own pace, and enjoying the beautiful country side and great sunny weather. Loran only got off the intended path once (or twice), but we found our way back onto the right road, saw an old suspension bridge, and a beautiful view looking down on Lake Annecy.

We were completely spoiled by our hotel, it was more American than French (king size bed, large bathroom and bathtub, lots of storage space, etc), and there was a large storeroom downstairs from the lobby where we kept our bike. We rode the time trial course a total of 4 times, and the fourth time was on the morning of the time trial stage.

Annecy is nested in the Alps and is a very picturesque vacation destination for the French and other Europeans. There is the lake which is like a huge swimming pool (no waves), and the old city with its narrow streets and canals, and of course, lots of Brasserie cafes serving crepes & glace’ and tourist shops.

Our first ride with the Velo Echappe tour group was on Wed, from Annecy over to La Grand Bornand, and then up to the summit of Col de la Colombiere to watch Stage 17 of the Tour de France. We were within ¼ mile of the summit when a rain shower and cold winds came over and soaked us. We had our rain jackets, but didn’t want to stop so close to the summit. We stayed up there for only a short while as it was windy and cold, and then we went back down about half way to the finish line to have lunch, and wait for the riders to come by. It was so neat to experience the excitement of seeing the Publicity Caravan and the tour riders up close and personal. Contador and the Schleck brothers were the first riders to pass, and the rest of the riders were really spread out.

One of the best parts of this day was the descent down the mountain and back to Annecy. We were flying down the mountain, passing cars, and braking hard for the turns. On the road back to Annecy, we were going 30-35 mph much of the way with a slight downhill grade, and the Garmin Team car was beside us cheering and honking as they passed, and the Rabobank team car also gave us a thumbs up. Once we passed the last climb, we were going 38 mph and passed two fast single riders as we descended back into Annecy.

On Friday, after the Time Trial day, we departed for Bourg d’Oisans to ride Alpe d’Huez. This was truly a ride to remember in more ways than one. How many of you have ridden a climb that was 8 miles of uphill, with no flat sections? This was our first ever climb like that; 21 switchbacks, whew! I’m glad I put on that smaller front chain ring, thanks to advice from Mike Mahoney. Oh, my heart rate monitor/bike computer battery went dead before we were on the climb so I was riding ‘blind.’ Kelly gave me speed readings periodically. It took us about 90 minutes to make the climb (8 miles from 730 meters elevation to 1860 meters). Once at the top we had a wonderful buffet lunch, and the views were breathtaking. On the way down, again we were flying, passed a few cars, and braking hard for the switchbacks. On one section coming into a curve, I kept the speed up thinking I could carve the turn. Oops, think again, it was sharp curve and we had the brakes (and drag brake) full on to stay on our side of the road, and avoid hitting a van coming up the road. Once everyone was down the mountain, we departed to Privas to the Hotel Chaumette. With traffic delays, we didn’t arrive until 8:30pm (3 hrs late), had a quick shower, dinner, and off to bed to be ready for early start over to Mont Ventoux on Saturday. Now, this WAS a French Hotel (small room, two twin beds pushed together, and a 2’ x 2’ shower), and the food was excellent.

After an early breakfast we were on the bus toward Bedoin at the base of Mont Ventoux. There were thousands of people headed up the mountain (we were told there were about a million people on the 13 miles up to the finish), as we made our way up. Lots of bikes and walkers to avoid, and we did see 3-4 other tandems. After we had gone about 5 miles, the grade increased from 3-5% to about 7% and traffic was heavier, so we stopped to rest. This was our 6th straight day of riding and our legs were tired from the Alp d’Huez climb the day before. Back down the mountain about ½ mile, there was a beer and food stand grilling sausage sandwiches on baguettes, so we decided to stop and wait for the tour riders on this switchback. We waited and waited, for about 4-5 hours, for the Tour to come by, but it was neat being a part of the revelry of the event. We met a very nice couple from Flanders, and passed the time talking to them. When the tour did come by, it was so cool to actually see the riders close enough to touch. On our way down the mountain, we stopped in Bedoin, where there was a Jumbo-tron television and we watched the end of the stage to see that the top GC positions were unchanged. No more tandem riding after this day.

Sunday morning we were on the TGV to Paris. Once in Paris, we checked in to our Hotel, and walked to the Hotel Meurice where our group had the Presidential Suite overlooking Rue de Rivoli at the 1 km mark. There were two large flat screen TV’s to watch as the Tour approached Paris. It was so exciting to see the riders flying by just below us as they made the 8 laps in Paris. We stayed in Paris for 3 more days for sightseeing. This was the most wonderful vacation that we have ever taken!

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